Join the Nation's Conversation

Who's who at Monsters U

Moviegoers will get a chance to grade the fine gentlemen of Oozma Kappa fraternity with Friday's opening of 'Monsters University,' Pixar's animated prequel to 2001's 'Monsters, Inc.' Director Dan Scanlon teaches USA TODAY's Brian Truitt about teenage Mike Wazowski, James P. "Sulley'' Sullivan and some of their colorful frat brothers.

Sponsored by

Voiced by Billy Crystal

Mike Wazowski

Crash course: The little one-eyed dude is as funny and precocious as he was in Monsters, Inc. But in addition to wearing a retainer, he's also a little more passionate, eager and driven. "He's a guy who is really studying for his dream to become a scarer," Scanlon says. "Mike, at a young age, just wanted to fit in this world and let people know he could do something great."

Voiced by John Goodman

James P. "Sulley" Sullivan

Crash course: Instead of being the lovable lug from the first movie, Sulley is a "lovably arrogant" 18-year-old this time around. He looks the part of a top-notch scarer and knows it, Scanlon says. "He comes from this great family of scarers, and he thinks he has the world figured out already, as so many of us did at that age."

Voiced by Dave Foley and Sean Hayes

Terry and Terri Perry

Crash course: Mike and Sulley don't get along, but the two-headed, one-bodied siblings Terry (Foley) and Terri (Hayes) take that to a whole other level. They also have opposite personalities, the taller Terry a sardonic fellow compared with Terri, who wears his heart on his sleeve and tries to impress people. "We loved the idea of brothers who are stuck together," Scanlon says. They "literally have different majors and have different choices they've made in life that they are going to have to deal with if they ever want to work together."

Voiced by Joel Murray

Don Carlton

Crash course: A salesman giving college one more chance, middle-aged Don is a throwback to that older person you always saw on campus, and you couldn't figure out if he was a grad student, professor or simply in his 20th year of being an undergrad. "He represents a bigger thing for the whole Oozma Kappa team," Scanlon says, "which is this idea of maybe selling yourself short too soon and it's never too late to really give it a shot."

Voiced by Charlie Day

Art

Crash course: Arguably the most dynamic of the OK brothers, Art was born out of nothing, Scanlon says. The animation artists didn't know what to do with him until one of them drew an "A" and put eyes on it. "We're like, 'That looks cool,' " the director says. "He was just this weird character with no back story, and that's when we realized, 'That's exactly who this guy is!' We knew a million guys like that in college, who were just bizarre and weird."

Voiced by Peter Sohn

Scott "Squishy" Squibbles

Crash course: Squishy was born out of the need for the Monsters University crew to have somebody smaller and cuter than Mike but still scary, and he represents the student who's somewhat undeclared and undefined in his overall life. Teenagers are often compared to a ball of clay waiting to be molded, Scanlon says, "and that's why he's literally a ball of gelatinous clay. He's also the heart of the group. He's 18 and still lives with his mom. He's the college kid who has not grown up yet."

Voiced by Helen Mirren

Dean Hardscrabble

Crash course: The vaunted dean of Monsters U. is the greatest scarer of them all and has a creepy, crawly design to make her more intimidating. But she's not really a villain, Scanlon says. "Her only fault is that she's probably gotten a little bit of an ego over the years, and she's lost track of the fact that to be a great teacher, you have to be open to teaching students in different ways. The most terrifying teachers are the ones you kind of know are right, and everything she says about Mike and Sulley throughout the movie, for the most part, is right."

Written by Brian Truitt; Produced by John Elliot

Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
4:05 p.m. EDT June 18, 2013

Meet Mike and Sulley's cohorts in Oozma Kappa fraternity.

We all know Mike Wazowski, but what about his college compatriots? Meet the monsters of 'Monsters University.'(Photo: Disney/Pixar)